We’re the last of the Mohicans, says MISA’s new chief
After a two-and-a-half year hiatus away from the industry, Wee Hee Ling, the new CEO of MISA Travel, Singapore, knows she has her work cut out for her but as always, the petite, soft-spoken executive is up for the challenge.Taking over from Kenny Chew, who retired after the acquisition of the agency [...]
Brett Henry on ‘OTAs: The Coming Wave’ – why globals could win the race and what locals have to do
A week before the WIT Conference (Oct 27-29) opens in Singapore, Brett Henry, Abacus’ vice president-commercial who’s spent the last 12 years in Asia watching the online travel space, shares his observations with Yeoh Siew Hoon. ‘OTAs: The Coming Wave’ is one of the 10 trends that will be di [...]
Abacus gives agents “ground-breaking” tools to “defend their turf”
Although traditional agents still control three quarters of the Asia Pacific total travel market of US$322.6 billion in 2013, it’s a share that will inevitably shrink as consumers in Asia Pacific jump channels.According to PhoCusWright’s Asia Pacific Online Travel Overview Seventh Edition, one q [...]
Letter from Abu Dhabi: First time on Etihad and a city in the making
After a month of not travelling, I feel distinctly out of practice. It takes me longer to pack than usual. And I had to turn back twice to pick up stuff I had forgotten – like my passport. Pretty essential for any trip out of Singapore.This time, I am headed for Abu Dhabi and it’s my first time [...]
Content power moving back to the professionals, at least I’d like to think so
Since the media world got flattened like roti prata, and everyone can make one – you can buy them frozen at the supermarket and just lightly toss them in a hot pan and voila, you've got a crispy one – us journalists have been wondering where to run for cover since now everyone can write as well. [...]
Standards for mobile app deeplinking would be game changer for meta, says Veitch
A game changer for meta-searches in Asia would be having standards for app-to-app deeplinking which would increase conversions and the industry needs to collaborate and agree on these standards, said Ross Veitch, CEO & co-founder of Wego.“The mobile web booking experience and conversion rates [...]
New era for MISA as founder Kenny Chew retires following acquisition by Zana
Last Friday marked the passing of an era for MISA Travel Singapore as its founder and CEO Kenny Chew left the company following the completion of its acquisition by Zana Capital, a private equity firm.The acquisition was announced last September but completed last Friday. As we write this, we believ [...]
Expect CUTE, new ideas at WIT Bootcamp: Eight start-ups selected to pitch
Just returned from a meeting with the National University of Singapore Department of Communications and New Media and their CUTE centre (which stands for Connective Ubiquitous Technology for Embodiments) – I think I prefer CUTE.Seems both units are getting pretty interested in travel and the CUTE [...]
Social media as whinge outlets and the pool with Brag Plus Factor …
I was having lunch with a hotelier this week when our conversation turned to social media and tools such as Local Measure which allows businesses like hotels to pick up location-based chatter among guests. The idea is then to surprise customers with something unexpected or to pre-empt complaints. (W [...]
Welcome to ‘Planet Marriott’ – sets up own travel lifestyle content studio
Interesting trend as hospitality company morphs into media owners – Marriott International is forming a new global content studio to publish, distribute and share filmed content across film, television, online, digital and print distribution platforms. This is so it can focus on next-generation [...]
